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Monday, July 23, 2007

Solved!

Just received from a book industry friend:

MPH, Times, Popular and Harris bookstores are happy to have reached an agreed solution with Penguin Books Malaysia & Singapore with regard to the sale of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and will resume sale of the said book at the recommended retail price of RM109.90 fixed by Penguin Books Malaysia & Singapore with immediate effect. As a goodwill gesture to customers, all 4 bookstore chains have decided to accord customers with the following offer for the purchase of said title: (i) 20% discount for all customers with any purchase; and (ii) 25% for loyalty card members. For loyal customers with pre-orders, please refer to the respective bookstores for more details.

The Popular members' card has both the Popular and Harris names. In Singapore, the bookstores are known as Popular & Harris. The Orchard MRT outlet that I visited has a separate section, and entrance, for Harris. From what I can tell, the Harris section carried English books comparable to Borders and Kino, whereas the Popular section was Chinese books and stationery items, i.e., what Popular has always been popular for.

Maybe Popular in Malaysia will soon have a bookstore make-over to incorporate the Harris name.